


Down into the Depths

by CoatSwapInn (mybelovedtwinflower)



Category: Archipelago (Webcomic)
Genre: Exploration, Gen, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Nerds, magic nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 11:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8371408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mybelovedtwinflower/pseuds/CoatSwapInn
Summary: A new well appears on the island and Olivia is curious to venture into it with the curious AI/spirit Dragonfly





	

The low thrum of the machine filled her ears as Olivia adjusted the straps of her safety harness with steady tugs. her hands trembled lightly but she fought it away. The tunnels that burst from the ground were, in her opinion, had something behind them.   
Olivia looped the last piece into place and gave it a stiff tug. She checked over her shoulder at the people who would be ready to pull her back up. Her friends gave her the thumbs up with excited grins. They were just as eager to learn the secrets of this historical archive as any other. Dragonfly assured that there was always a deep pool of water at the bottom of these “wells” so sliding down was often safe enough to attempt unsecured. Olivia was a nerd and wanted to learn more about the ancient fallen station that she’d learned the islands were made of. The station was like a living creature in and of itself, constantly shifting like the oldest dragons who create mountains with their scaled bodies.   
Dragonfly flickered on the edge of the freshly made tunnel as she walked over to join it. The spirit, the Ai, provided a tiny glow of light in the pre-morning darkness. The familiar sight comforted her. 

Olivia’s parent came over and put a steady hand on her shoulder. The squeeze sent her body a comforting signal and the corner of her lips curled up as she recognized the little strands of magic that slipped through. She met their eyes and let them know that she was grateful for the calming boost. “Here I go.”  
“Find wonders there, and be safe.” Her parent replied in turn. 

Dragonfly buzzed over in a gentle airobatic loop-de-loop and flinted onto her offered arm. “I’ll take good care of the crew. The supplies down in this access tunnel will be a great help to the island once retrieved.” He said with a trademark chirp of confidence that she had never seen shaken.   
She waved bravely to the others and they lowered her as she started decinded into the tunnel. She’d tug on the rope to get her buddies to hold her steady enough to take notes of magic code signatures that popped up from time to time, and then proceed with the decent.   
After about an hour of this slow progress, Olivia noticed the growing weight of silence in the air. “So... these other AIs that were created with you,” she asked, breaking the silence, “Were they all like you?”

Dragonfly had seemed to notice her quiet thoughtfulness and flickered around a bit before answering. “In a way? We were created around the same time, often in pairs. It was a joint effort from several nations who were building the station. Each one would contribute with a pair of AIs to help run the infrastructure. Our overall creation was opensourced between the nations so we had a lot in common, but-” and the green dragonfly gave a clear shrug, -“There’s the whole matter of nurture vs nature with artificial inteligence, and we’re very different personality wise.”

She smiled at the shrug. "Is that so? What are the others like?"

Dragonfly kept her company on the long slow drop, offering short stories about his AI family, and snippets of the history that she had found fascinating through her childhood. It helped pass the time. Her village had planned this drop for a week, since the tunnel had emerged and stabilized, and they’d opted to take the slow and steady route of being lowered with ropes.


End file.
